Are Drone Deliveries a Good Idea?

There has been a lot of talk about drones delivering ordered good in the media recently. Both Google and Amazon seem to be progressing towards a ‘Jetsons’-like logistics chain faster than was thought possible.

It’s not hard to see the drawbacks to drone-led deliveries. Most people are happy to walk to the store to buy batteries and bread. If the latest Jamie Oliver cookbook arrives at their house, rather than tracking them down on their morning jog, they’ll be pretty happy with that too. The noise, too, is an issue – walking near a drone is akin to sleeping near a mosquito for many.

Beyond these issues, there are some other, more serious concerns that the drone movement could create in our lives.

Air Traffic Concerns

Drones are said to create a major headache for airspace controllers. In July of 2014, an Airbus A320 taking off from London’s Heathrow airport narrowly avoided a crash with a drone. The Civil Aviation Authority classed the incident as a ‘serious risk of collision’ which is highest classification it can give.

Helicopters too have reported close calls with drones. The US Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation into an incident where a helicopter crew spotted a drone hovering just metres above them.

If Google and Amazon are able to get their drone program off the ground (pun intended) then the airspace is likely to be much more crowded and the risk of incident will be greatly increased.

Threats to personal safety

Drones too have created serious security threats with one crash landing onto the White House lawn earlier this year, sending the presidential residence into lock down.

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has also had a run in with the mechanised device. A drone, driven by a member of the German Pirate Party was crashed in front of her, raising fears for the leader’s safety.

And in Perth, Australia, a triathlete received a head wound when an errant drone trying to photograph athletes crashed into her during a race.

Threats to Privacy

And of course there are the inevitable concerns about surveillance and privacy that surround our skies buzzing with thousands of mechanised drones.

Even with relatively few drones currently patrolling our cities, there are numerous complaints from residents and business about the intrusive nature of drones on their personal space. This is only likely to increase should we continue to move toward drone delivery systems.

Animals hate them

Finally, and comically, it seems that it is not just people who hate drones. Animals too, seem to get rather frustrated with them as this video shows.

So rather than the postman being chased by a dog, it could now be the case that it’s a drone that’s chased by a dog (or perhaps a chimpanzee).

Imagine arriving home to find that your new Jamie Oliver cookbook had made it all the way from the Amazon warehouse to your neighbour’s place, where it was crash tackled and chewed up by your neighbours’ Golden Retriever.